I think between my catchup reading of Nana and listening to my newly collected Muse b-sides, I created myself a fangirly dream last night.
In it, I was at some sort of exclusive, invitation-only fan gig and party for the band. I remember palling around with a few people at the party, eating at long dining tables, and at one point watching Matt Bellamy play piano while Chris (bassist) threw rolls at him and Dom (drums) tried to roll hot dogs down the keys. It was like watching a piano man at a saloon, with every spectator drunk and laughing, including the player. Later I remember that the band guys were trying to get everyone at the party to do an a-capella version of United States of Eurasia, and while I made a good effort to nail my part, I was chagrined to find that I couldn't control my voice properly, and ended up singing pretty badly. Very embarrassing.
But the last part I remember because I was half-awake, and half-dreaming. I was lying on my side in the dream just as I was in bed, only in my dream I was lying on a long piano bench with my head practically resting on Matt Bellamy's left thigh, while he played some soft, lovely song. The last I remember was the song ending, and hearing him slowly draw in and release a breath.
Then the dream-fog cleared. I had kind of a nice haze around me for a little while, though. ^_^
- Fangirl dream
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kireic- November 24th, 23:56
content
- Food firsts
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- kireic
- November 24th, 13:22
contemplative
On a lighter note, here are some recent things relating to foods - specifically, foods that I had not eaten or made until just recently.
Pilsbury Toaster Strudels - I tried the "Cinnabon" co-branded flavor as a snack at a desperate moment at work. Tasty, but 200 calories for such a little thing? I wouldn't want to make a habit of them.
Tim Tams - I FINALLY found these at a local Target. The legendary "Tim Tam Slam" exceeded my expectations, especially with a vanilla latte from Starbucks. Melty chocolatey goodness, hooray!
Fried ice cream - I'd never attempted to make this, depite having eaten it at restaurants. But we were celebrating my coworker's birthday a day early with a taco lunch, so I thought it would be fun to have a crack at it, given that we have a deep fryer as well as a blast freezer. They came out decently, although I'm sure a tempura-style coating would have been a bit more interesting than the simple egg batter and crushed corn flake coating I opted for.
Fish tacos - I've eaten them, but never made them! This past weekend I marinated some haddock in lime juice, oil, chili powder, garlic, and cilantro, baked it off, then served it up in soft shells with guacamole, fresh pinepple chunks, sliced red onion, fresh cilantro, sour cream, and spring mix greens. If I did it again I'd use a different fish, like salmon, tuna, mahi mahi, or something of that sort - the haddock was alright, but didn't have alot of flavor strength. Oh, and I'd also just make up pineapple salsa to go with it, and then I wouldn't have to have red onion and cilantro on the side!
Graham crackers - I made some of these up last Saturday with Heather's help, using a recipe from smittenkitchen.com. They were very tasty, though definitely more cookie than cracker. They felt like they ought to have less sugar and fat in them to really resemble graham crackers, but all in all a very tasty treat - especially with cinnamon sugar dusted on top. Mmm!
I'm still undecided as to what will be our main dish on Thursday, though. It's just Chuck and me, so we certainly don't need a huge turkey. Last year we did duck, which was nice, but I would rather like some turkey. Maybe just a breast to roast up? I don't know. Whatever happens, there must be mashed potatoes, and hopefully some pumpkin-based dessert.
- Eff my brain
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- kireic
- November 19th, 16:53
aggravated
MAN. I lost track of my renewal day for the car insurance and it was YESTERDAY. To renew I had to pay an "installation fee" of an additional $70 over and above what my renewal WOULD have been.
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDGE. I was feeling so on top of things until today. Guess I'll never do THAT again.
- Kids are so cool.
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- kireic
- November 17th, 17:39
cheerful
Today I helped drop off snacks to our local Snack Buddy school (our company buys them crackers and pretzels and stuff as snacks; a high percentage of them come from low-income families) and volunteered for a couple hours as a "helper."
First, we went outside for recess with a bunch of kids, and since I often feel as awkward with kids as I do with adults, I just sort of wandered around the slides until a little girl claimed me as the safe point in a game of tag, and then asked me to play. I asked what kind of tag they were playing, and she said "Zombie Tag!"
Zombie Tag! XD XD XD Awesome. The rules are pretty logical: if your'e "it" you're a zombie, and instead of being "out" if tagged, you turn into a zombie too and try to tag people. Fun times. Actually, it's pretty challenging if you think about it, because your chances of being tagged increase greatly as the game progresses and more people turn into zombies.
After that we helped a class during story and drawing time, and they were learning about colors and flowers. They were all wiggly and enthusiastic and wanted to answer all the questions and were just delightful in all their different ways.
- Internet time waster -> baby pictures
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- kireic
- November 16th, 16:52
amused
Someone on OB linked to MorphThing.com last night and I spent like 2 hours just coming up with permutations of babies. Here's mine and Chuck's:
Lol.
- T-day plans?
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- kireic
- November 13th, 16:39
hungry
I'm still trying to hammer out our plans for Thanksgiving. I'd totally love to do an orphan's Thanksgiving this year, only, I don't think I know anyone without plans on Thanksgiving! A bunch of our friends are driving down to their family's hometowns, so it kind of looks like just me 'n' Chuck again this year. Which is fine, but not as much fun as getting together with more people and making for a better feast.
Maybe I'll give a shout out on Facebook to my local GB people and see if anyone is interested in a T-day get-together for all of us sans-familles.
- 3 officially recognized years!
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- kireic
- November 11th, 14:57
loverly
Today marks 3 years since Charles and I were married! And 8 years ago around this time of year, we were in our first couple months of dating.
I'm so happy I found such a great guy to spend my life with. Things aren't always a bed of rose petals, but I really feel at home with my dearest Chuck. He loves me more than I ever thought anyone ever could or would. Besides which, he always remembers to say thank you, apologizes for being a grouch, and puts up with all my bitchy and silly nonsense.
Sometimes I wish I had tried dating more guys before looking to get married, but honestly, so few men really appealed to me before I met Chuck that I'm not surprised I don't have much of a dating history to speak of. I was always behind the "romantic experience" curve, and didn't feel like I could trust most men - that sounds like I was afraid of being raped or something, but it was really more of a feeling that guys did not behave genuinely around me, and I had no interest in spending time with anyone who wasn't acting like themselves. I never had a problem trusting Chuck, though. He's always had a guileless charm which I find impossible to dislike. His honest nature was actually pretty scary at first, but it's one of the things I love most about him.
Happy Anniversary, baby! I still love you best of all.
- Good Jeans
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- kireic
- November 5th, 15:30
irritated
I need a new pair of jeans (or two) somethin’ fierce. I only have one pair left that isn’t disintegrating in some way.
The problem is, I don’t like most “modern” jeans. My grievances:
1. Stretch denim – this stuff just doesn’t do it for me. My undamaged pair of jeans does have some elastic in the material blend, but they’re relatively beefy in the denim weight and tight enough that it doesn’t bother me as much. However, the pair I bought with stretch prior to that (Levi’s brand from Target) was too thin, and had a stiff, springy drape to them. Besides which, they wore a hole at the point of one back pocket that became a monstrous gash in about 2 months time. Overall I think stretch denim grates on me because I prefer jeans to be just a little, shall I say, uncomfortable. Not “ow that hurts” or “I can’t breathe” uncomfortable; they just shouldn’t be as accommodating as stretch pants.
2. “Whiskering” – where did anyone get the idea that this was a great fashion idea? How would jeans ever get this kind of wear on the folds sitting on the top of your lap? It’s so ridiculous-looking. I guess at least some manufacturers have eased up on it compared to 5-8 years ago, when it seemed common to see whiskering that looked like someone dipped their fingers in bleach and laid them perpendicular to their thighs at crotch-level. Still, I was really hoping this trend would have mostly died out by now.
3. Low-rise – don’t get me wrong, I like the low-rise style on the whole; it makes my butt look less giant by dropping the waist down a bit. But low-rise these days is super low, like 7-8 inches – this doesn’t work so well on me, as it emphasizes my tummy and tends to slip down and give me a muffin-top on the sides. I guess it’s fortunate, though, that what passes for "high-waist" is actually close to my favorite old low-rise jeans from college, and is not the high-waist of the ‘80’s where it’s up over the belly button.
Do you any of you ladies out there in LJ land have any suggestions on jean brands that you like, or that your friends like, if you’re going for something to accommodate some womanly proportions? I think I’ll try hitting some stores this weekend to determine my options and could use a little advice to go on. I’ll probably bring my measuring tape – I think it might save me some trouble in the dressing room.
- Halloween face
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- kireic
- October 30th, 23:34
pleased
I picked up a metallic eyeshadow palette today and did a test. No fake eyelashes here, but there probably will be tomorrow.
if you look carefully you can see the gold. This makeup seems ridiculous when I look at myself in the mirror, but seems less so on camera. I think I may need to resort to the green pencil for my eyebrows, as the shadow I used to shade up my brows seems a tad weak.
Gosh I love that wig color! If I were ever to dye my hair, I think I'd go for that aquamarine. Always wanted to be a mermaid.
- Halloweeny preview
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- kireic
- October 25th, 21:47
accomplished
Copyingxhezachanx- here's a pic of me in my alien space babe outfit as it stands thus far. I styled up my Lum wig with pincurls this weekend to get some '60s-'70s curliness. The only thing keeping it from reverting to extreme straightness is the ten tons of hairspray I used!
Whee! I'm going to be spending half the time I wear this pulling my dress back down - it rides up like nobody's business!
- Post-dated pasty
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- kireic
- October 25th, 21:42
- hungry
I made pasties some time ago. They came out nicely! I think to like pasties you've got to really like pie crust. Chuck's not as much of a fan of it as I am, which is why I don't think he liked these as much as me.
The filling is beef, potatoes, and turnips, seasoned with some savory herbs and salt and pepper. Herbs are apparently not traditional, but I imagine this would be a bit more bland and literally meat 'n' potatoes than I'd have liked.
Mmm. Looking at this now is making me wish I had one now!
- Taking to the air
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- kireic
- October 25th, 18:53
anxious
Getting caught up with all the little things before heading out tomorrow morning for a business trip. Normally I'd be pretty nonplussed, but this one is a trial I'm supposed to more or less be in charge of, and that intimidates me quite a bit.
Something about my personality and work style doesn't really predispose me to leadership. I'm better at knucking down and doing things myself rather than planning for other people and delegating, and I get very caught up in finishing the task at hand rather than always thinking past the goal.
The biggest problem I foresee is trying to remain in a lead position with my supervisor there. He always jumps in with useful comments and ideas, and I tend to sit back and absorb things quietly before making comments and suggestions. It makes us very synergistic as a team, but I sense that he may have trouble falling back so I can lead, maybe even more than I have trouble stepping up. I should probably chat with him and see if I can get him to either quiet down and let me struggle til I find my groove, or prod/coach me instead of immediately speaking up to the general assembly.
tl;dr - I'm stepping out of my comfort zone this week and I hope I can do it adequately on my own, without relying on my supervisor. Wish me luck!
- Soda and candy = child abuse?
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- kireic
- October 23rd, 12:50
bitchy
“Child abuse can be mental, physical or emotional. Anything that negatively affects a child's well being can be classified as abuse and it is important that social services begin to recognize obesity as a form of child abuse. Maybe with such harsh consequences parents will make better decisions for their children.”
This snippet was in my Morning Cup today and I just had to read the rest of it at the Daily Campus. Essentially, it advocates holding parents responsible for their children's obesity to the point of classifying them as child abusers, with the possibility of removal of the child from their parents' custody.
Whoa! And they say taxing soda would lead to a Nanny State. You want to talk Orwellian, this idea is it. Admittedly, I feel a lot of parents could stand to give their kids better food choices – though I also admit that feeding kids healthy foods is a tough job. I don’t think having the Fatty Police perform surprise inspections and drag away the fat kids would be the best way to make things any better, much less “save the lives of many children” as the author believes.
The entire plan calls up many questions. Would children have to be tested to rule out thyroid issues or other biological factors that would cause them to gain weight easily and lose it with difficulty? Would they be subjected to physical exams and fitness tests to determine how much their obesity is affecting their physical health? At what age would the parents no longer be held responsible for their kids’ eating habits? Often children have the ability to make their own food choices as early as elementary school, when they are given lunch money. I think everyone used that money for an ice cream on occasion (sometimes more frequently!). When they enter their teens it becomes even more difficult, as they spend more time outside the home – I certainly had no shortage of opportunities to buy candy, soda, and fast food without parental supervision.
I’d endorse any number of measures to improve the diets and exercise habits of children before approving the classification of obesity as a symptom of abuse. Bigger school budgets for phys ed, programs to subsidize fruits and vegetables, stricter WIC and food stamp rules, and even a dreaded junk food tax seems preferable to, and probably less expensive than, the Fatty Police option.
- Technobonded
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- kireic
- October 21st, 16:06
silly
My iPod and I get along well. Lately it's been especially cool to me and has played Muse's "Fury" within the first 20 songs when I hit shuffle.
Nothing else of great importance to comment on at the moment. :P
- Blonde moment
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- kireic
- October 16th, 10:36
- frustrated
I hate that no matter how much better I get at keeping track of things and being responsible for myself, I still end up spacing on some aspect of something important and totally screw myself up. I just got myself lost on the way to my doctor's appointment, and while I gave myself copious time to get there, I drove myself to a completely wrong place because I didn't check my directions close enough - despite having looked at the directions TWICE.
What the hell, brain. So I was late enough by the time I got myself straightened out that I had to reschedule, but fortunately I got in for early this afternoon since I mentioned I had all of today free. Thank you, nice receptionist.
If I'm this bad now, I hate to think what might happen when I have children.
- Snopes to the rescue!
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- kireic
- October 13th, 16:48
surprised
Apparently even pros in food writing get taken in a bit by silly forwarded email shenanigans. Yesterday, I saw this in in the editorial section of the Morning Cup:
Target Under Assault from email attack - So you want to know if the World Wide Web and its millions of bloggers and e-mailers, Facebookers and Twitterers ... can do damage to a marketer? I just received a pass-it-on e-mail from a Morning Cup reader calling for a quiet but nationwide boycott of Target. Here's part of what was said in the e-mail I received:
"Wasn't it last Christmas that Target refused to let the Salvation Army ring their bells in front of their stores? Dick Forrey of the Vietnam Veterans Association wrote: 'Recently we asked the local Target store to be a proud sponsor of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall during our spring recognition event. We received the following reply from the local Target management: "Veterans do not meet our area of giving. We only donate to the arts, social action groups, gay and lesbian causes, and education." ... Now, I'm thinking again. If Target cannot support American Veterans, then why should my family and I support their stores by spending our hardearned American dollars! ... Please send this on to everyone you know to let Target know we don't need them either!
... BOOM! POW! IN YOUR FACE! This e-mail is now apparently in the process of being 'passed on' to thousands, potentially millions of consumers. I don't know if what the e-mail says is true, but it shows how these things can grow and leave a marketer powerless to stop it. But if it is true, that this is Target's corporate policy, I suspect the attempt to 'pass-on' this call for a boycott will resonate with a lot of folks.
This particular forward was debunked on Snopes.com some time ago, and for some reason, I just had to pass on a story with the link to that Snopes article. So I submitted this reply:
I was just reading your bit about the power potential of Facebook and Twittering exemplified by a “pass-it-on” email that called for a boycott of Target, and suddenly found myself reminiscing to an earlier job. The office was filled with middle-aged ladies who were very fond of passing on emails of dubious veracity. They concerned everything from how to avoid being assaulted by a stranger by asking him the time, why you shouldn’t freeze PET bottles because it will release BPA into their contents, how dangerous bathroom-dwelling spiders on airplanes could kill you, to which corporation we ought to boycott and why (Pepsi, for leaving “under God” out of the Pledge of Allegiance printed on their bottles, Exxon/Mobil in the hopes of ending gas price gouging, the post office for creating stamps commemorating Islamic holidays, etc.). Oh, and we can’t forget the scandal of the pricey Neiman-Marcus cookie recipe!Much to my surprise, they actually published my reply in the Reader Writes section of today's Morning Cup! Kinda neat. It's been so long since I got a really dumb forward that I had virtually forgotten all the BS that circulates in that fashion.
I received these forwards with a good deal of skepticism, and in short order began giving these “pass-it-ons” a run through Snopes.com - and often replied to the senders with a link to the page on Snopes.com debunking the email they forwarded. After a while, they started doing the same on their own, and we all found ourselves with a few less junk emails cluttering our inboxes (though there was no shortage of the “pass this on OR ELSE” emails, unfortunately).
So, with nostalgia, I will do the same for you: http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/target.asp Given, Snopes.com IS just another internet information resource, but they do seem to do a fairly thorough investigation in determining which portions of a rumor/urban legend are true, partially true, false, or undetermined.
The overall point you had was right-on, though – this interpersonal circulation of information is virtually unstoppable, if no one stops a moment to find out if messages about a product or business are true. It’s a fairly frightening thought that people would take all these messages at face value, especially if you factor in a little Telephone Game effect, where more information is piled onto or interchanged with the content of the original message (note how the message on Snopes is almost identical to the one sent to you, but for the addition of “gay and lesbian causes”).
- Muse-a-palooza
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- kireic
- October 9th, 17:22
- contemplative
Earlier this week I started checking out a bunch of Muse videos and live concert footage courtesy of YouTube, which was very cool. And also enlightening, because suddenly I found myself watching performances and fan-videos for Muse songs I never knew existed! Apparently these were B-sides off of various Muse singles. I didn’t know actual B-sides were even made anymore. I mean, yeah, I haven’t bought a single in ages, but even when I did, the “B-side” included was usually a remix of some sort, or maybe a live or acoustic version of the single.
So off I jaunted to iTunes to see if I could snag any of these fabled B-sides. Lucky for me, most of them were there for purchase. Some were not, but unless I want to shell $60-100 on Amazon for the pleasure of owning the physical disc, I think I’ll have to scour some download sites to find the others.
When I think of how I came to discover this band and how I’ve followed them, it’s been a very odd trip. I didn’t know they existed until “Time is Running Out” received radio play in the U.S. back in 2005, at which point I nabbed the album Absolution and got quite into it. It wasn’t until after 2006’s Black Holes and Revelations that I even discovered previous albums, starting with The Origin of Symmetry. And that was only because I watched the French horror/slasher High Tension – “New Born” plays over the final credits.
Last winter a friend brought his digital copies of Showbiz and Hullabaloo when he came to visit, and again I discovered more of their music to love. You’d think I’d have ventured forth and found these ages ago, but no! However, I’m glad that I didn’t go crazy back in 2005 and dip back into their earlier works right off, because it gave me more opportunity to digest what I had just found. Reaching backwards only after Black Holes & Revelations has worked out well, given the gap between then and their recent release.
So yeah, I love Muse passionately, even though I show it in a sort of spotty, haphazard fashion. I hope that it’s true that they will be doing “an extensive US tour” next year; if I were to attend one of their concerts, I’m almost positive it would verge on a religious experience.
- Pennies on pop
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- kireic
- October 9th, 9:46
chilly
My last entry was spurred largely by industry banter over the proposed soda tax. The food industry is quite against it, and beverage companies resent being pinned as scapegoats for the obesity crisis. They're defending themselves from shifting the blame for obesity onto other food segments and by pointing out consumers' sedentary ways, and of course funding agencies to put out ads against the tax which imply that we're at the top of the slippery slope leading to a nanny state.
Anti-soda people are all for it, of course, since they see soda and other sweetened beverages as a large enough contributor to empty calorie consumption to justify targeting it for price increases to hopefully discourage purchasing.
I myself am pretty much on the fence, because although I work in the food industry, my employer's business doesn't hinge on soft drinks. Also, you can increase the price of soda a good chunk before I'd notice, since I probably spend less than $100 on soda in a year. And finally, I see people still smoking despite the crazy high price of cigarettes, so I have alot of doubt that a tax on soda will decrease consumption by very much, although it will increase government revenue. If that revenue was spent on health care programs, I'd be alright with that.
But maybe you should ask my coworkers that drink a soda or two a day and get their take on it.
- Everybody's free to feel good... and suck at life
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- kireic
- October 8th, 11:45
- annoyed
I keep seeing counterarguments against a Fat Tax or soda tax, and also against public healthcare, that jeeringly say that "the government thinks you're too stupid to make good personal decisions." I know it's a ploy to make people bristle, but really, I'd like to see that notion proven wrong. Show me people generally being smart enough to make good choices for themselves!
It’s obvious that in general people did not make good choices when it came to buying expensive houses in the last decade because they could get massive loans. Given, I’m sure many trusted the lenders as experts in knowing what was affordable and reasonable, but without consumers getting burned very badly (which they now have), how would they “smarten up” and make a better choice for themselves? And how can we prevent lenders from engaging in irresponsible loan practices?
It’s also pretty apparent that people on the whole are still not making great strides in eating better. Yes, the information is there that a regular diet of fries, Big Macs, fried chicken, and pizza washed down with soda and/or beer is not generally the best way to maintain a healthy weight, but most don’t listen to that information. The junk is ubiquitous and cheap, and unfortunately we all are paying for its consequences, not just individuals and their health insurance companies. People are not doing what’s good for them, so what is one to do? Make the junk less ubiquitous and less cheap, while making healthier options less expensive and more accessible? And who can do such a thing?
It’s argued by some that many families could afford health coverage if they didn’t buy new flatscreen TVs, video game consoles, or any number of other frills. If this is true, they are exercising their right to choose which is held so dearly by the USA – more power to 'em, right? But if someone in one of those families has a sudden health emergency like a broken leg or head injury and must be hospitalized, chances are good that despite their "budget for frills" they will not have the tens of thousands available to pay a hospital bill and may plead off their debt because they do not have the money, and so it will be absorbed into the hospital’s costs and passed on to the bills of other patients whose bills will be paid. How can we get people the coverage they need to be sure that they won't stress the system or be left without care?
People in general do not make choices that will benefit them long-term. We go for what will satisfy today, and perhaps for the weeks and months to come, but get too far into the future and there is little consideration for the “what-ifs” that may befall us. Yet if anyone, especially Big Gubmint, does anything to induce us to change our ways, the cry goes out that they’re trying to control us in some dastardly way. And when tragedy does befall us, we don’t blame ourselves so much as we blame the other party that didn’t prevent or help us recover from said tragedy. How can we desire to be left alone with our right to choose but simultaneously feel entitled to receive aid when we choose poorly?
If we all stopped being so myopic and ill-prepared, the big They would have less reason to try interfering in our lives.
- Gone tonight
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- kireic
- October 1st, 12:50
- busy
Going to Beloit for a short business trip - hopefully all will go well and I'll walk away with a formula component I can use. Fingers crossed! I'll be back by tomorrow evening.
Maybe on the way back I can stop into the Milwaukee Whole Foods and the comic shop down thatttaway. I love being able to check out cool stuff while traveling!
